Free Embattled SEAL by J. M. Madden Page A

looking out the living room’s huge bay window and Cat just had to stop and stare. The man was massive; broad shoulders cocked as he leaned against the window casement, tight waist leading to lean hips and long legs. He had one of the nicest asses she’d ever seen on a man. Cat had to force herself to turn away before she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around that lean waist, then tugged him into the bedroom.
    Dinner was a quiet affair. Harper ate with an actual appetite, piling away the spaghetti and garlic bread like he used to do. Cat found herself watching him chew and swallow, heavy Adam’s apple bouncing. She could still see his chest bandage beneath the cotton of his t-shirt. They probably ought to look at it later to make sure everything was healing.
    “Are you still designing?” he asked abruptly.
    “I am. I brought my computer with me so I can work.”
    A lot had changed in the eighteen months he’d been gone. She’d worked like a dog to make her business truly profitable enough that they didn’t need his income. If he decided to divorce her tomorrow she wouldn’t be left floundering for a way to take care of her kids. Was she making a lot of money? No. But enough that they could live on.
    Right now the money he direct deposited into their joint account was used for incidentals. Kids’ clothes, extras. And her money was used to run the household. Inside she was incredibly proud of that fact. It was paying for their time here in the house.
    When she and Harper had gotten together they’d clicked immediately. They’d been set up by one of her girlfriends who at the time had been dating one of Harper’s teammates. Harper had already graduated BUDs and been assigned to Team 8. Cat remembered seeing him walk into the restaurant in Norfolk, tall and imposing, naturally intimidating, and her heart had raced. She’d known that night that he was going to be the love of her life.
    Harper had fallen fast too. When they’d first started dating he’d been brash and cocky, smiling all the time, but leery of her affections. As a child he’d been an afterthought. If his alcoholic parents were around they’d toss him something to eat, but for the most part he’d had to take care of himself. Cat had been brought up in a loving, accepting environment, totally different than his. They’d had some serious adjustments to make with each other, but it had worked out.
    Within a few months they’d eloped. A few months later she was pregnant with Dillon and he was out of the country shooting bad guys. For probably seventy-five percent of their married life they had been apart.
    Boy, that twenty-five percent really made up for the rest, though.
    “I’m glad you didn’t give that up,” he told her softly. “It really seems to feed your soul.”
    “It does,” she agreed.
    Cat had always been artistic. She’d gone to college for design but once she’d married Harper her plans had changed. Drastically. When she’d gotten pregnant they had both agreed that it would be better for her to stay home while the baby was small. And she didn’t regret one minute of that time in her life.
    Was it the third time he’d been deployed when she’d decided to go back to school and finish her degree? She couldn’t remember exactly. By the time Dillon was about five Cat was back in school part time. She’d started college at the same time her daughter had started preschool. Luckily, by that time they’d had a lot of support from the other team members’ wives and families. Cat had traded babysitting with a couple of the other mothers on base and it had worked out surprisingly well.
    Now she ran her own business.
    “It’s grown,” she told him. “I now have a handful of monthly customers and several on the schedule for the next year. You might be surprised how well I’m doing.”
    Harper looked at her, brows raised. He let them drop almost immediately, though. It must have hurt. “That’s awesome, Cat. Really.